I've been following this valuable discussion for a while, and when the
question turned to the complexity of visitor expectations, I remembered a
model that helped me to understand what we do and for whom -- and hasn't
failed me yet.  The model (sadly) isn't mine, but Dr. Deborah L. Perry's
(a Chicago consultant), who described it at a 1993 Visitor Studies
Conference (the Albaquerque boondoggle).  She labelled it "Beyond
Cognition and Affect:  The Anatomy of a Museum Visit."  Perry begins with
an equilateral triangle divided into three equal spaces, sort of like this
(Deborah's was much prettier):
                       /l\
                     /  l  \
                   /    l    \
  Participation  /      l      \ Outcome
               /      /   \      \
             /    /           \    \
           /_/_____________________\_\
                 Visitor Needs

Visitors arrive with three expectations:  for participation, for filling
needs, and for achieving some outcome.  Perry then divides the
PARTICIPATION space into three sections:  Physical (to have some "hands
on" experience -- even reading labels); Social (to have an outing); and
Intellectual (to have, perhaps, a "minds on" experience).

The NEEDS space she then divides into six sections:  Curiosity (to have it
peaked); Confidence (to be able to succeed); Challenge (but not too
easily); Control (to be given choices and have power over them); Play (to
have a sensory experience -- awe, fun, etc.); and Communication (to
participate).  At the talk, she also suggested that safety and comfort
should be included as Needs.

And finally, the OUTCOME space she divides into three segments:  Knowledge
(to learn something new); Attitude (to change it); and Skill (to be able
to do something).

All three sides must be part of a full museum experience, Perry says.
Though she begins with the three main spaces equal in size, this is an
ideal, existing for the time being only in theory.  The reality skews the
importance (or relative size) of spaces depending on whether you are the
visitor or the museum professional.  In other words, the visitor likely
emphasizes the "Participation" expectation, while the museum professional
emphasizes the "Outcome."  The usefulness of the model is in permitting us
to gauge what we're doing so that we can make conscious decisions about
what to emphasize or de-emphasize.

Kersti Krug
Director of Communications
Museum of Anthropology
The University of British Columbia
Vancouver, Canada